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Sunday, September 18, 2016

What's an #IMMOOC?

In an effort to blog more, I have joined the MOOC for the book "The Innovator's Mindset". A MOOC is an acronym for Massively Open Online Course. The definition is that it's a course of study made available over the Internet without charge to a very large number of people.

This is the space where I'll be blogging my learning for the MOOC. I'm very excited to participate in this group. I loved reading this book, it really resonated with me and the teaching and learning I am doing at school. As a bonus, George is going to be coming to speak at our school on October 7. We are a small district and have partnered up with our neighboring district to have a PD day together. We are very excited about this opportunity to hear and work with George. The superintendents of both districts bought the book for each staff member, and we will be using it all year as a reference tool.

The beliefs about learning for the district state:

We believe the best learning occurs…

when positive relationships form the foundation for learning;

when students engage in high-level learning and access appropriate support;

when students have an active role in their learning and in the school community;

in a culture of collaboration;

when students and teachers extend their learning beyond the school;

in an environment of creativity andinnovation.

The last sentence is the one that I hope George's book is going to help me with. Creativity and innovation are different from the standard practice that teachers know. How do we help teachers and students find ways to incorporate opportunities to think innovatively and creatively? My hope is that the book and the October 7th day will supercharge some terrific new ideas for teaching and learning in our districts.